From Teachers to Maids- The 'New' Filipino Diaspora

At the global company that I retired from, I had several opportunities to travel to both Asian and European countries. Those trips usually resulted in many hours of waiting at airports. Over the past few years I was witness to a new phenomenon.

I saw a large number of young Filipino men and women who were either arriving from overseas or catching a flight to some foreign destination. They are a part of a new and quite different Diaspora. Many of the men were headed to ports around the world to catch ships that they were crew members on. It is sometimes said that if all Filipino sailors stopped manning freighters and tankers that the global shipping industry would grind to a halt. The same is said of those who have taken clerical jobs and various assignments in the middle east. Many Arabian economies would be stalled if not altogether shut down without their Filipino help.

I once had a seatmate on a flight from Guam to Honolulu who was headed for Houston, Texas to catch a tanker. We got to talk about his way of life. He was happy to earn enough to give his family a nice middle class life back home, yet he rued about the loneliness that assaults him daily. The children’s birthdays missed, the nights he could not tuck his children to bed or share stories of their studies and their lives. The misery of his life, he said, was exacerbated after 9/11. No longer could they leave their ships to go ashore and shop or sight see or go to a restaurant. Part of most cities security enhancements called for strictly limiting crewmen liberties at ports of call. “ We live a very hard life,” he said. “If people only knew”.

The conversation with this Filipino crewman called to mind many of the stories of yet another aspect of this modern day Diaspora: all those millions of Filipinas who take jobs as domestics in almost all countries of the world. Sure, we hear of the millions of dollars these workhorses send back home, contributions that have literally kept the Philippine economy afloat. What is perhaps surprising, shocking really, is that a large number of these “maids” are college graduates. Among them are school teachers, accountants, secretaries and other professionals. Why are they taking jobs that take them away from their children for a monthly pay of$400.00?

The answer: $400.00 a month is often 4 or 5 times more than what they would earn in their own professions in the Philippines.

There are stories as well of the cruelties and abuse visited upon these Filipinas at the hands of their masters abroad. Rape, beatings, harsh working conditions, are all a part of what they can expect. (This is a story which I will devote future pieces on as it requires more attention and details). They bring home the gold that keeps our government functioning and their families well fed and well clothed, yet the price they pay goes beyond tears of loneliness and isolation; sometimes it results in bloodshed as well.

I read somewhere in a local paper in Manila where a politician reportedly stood on the floor of congress to “denounce” a Hong Kong journalist for referring to the Philippines as “a country of maids”. He wanted to defend the “honor” of Filipinas. My question is, if he and/or the Philippine government really wanted to make life better for our countrymen, why hasn’t he and his colleagues done anything to provide opportunities for our teachers, accountants and other professionals to earn a livable wage right in the Philippines?

Leandro D. Quintana ldq44@aol.com